The niche and paratextual industries of games and play

Prototype No.1

For my first prototype, I wrote on blank playing cards with permanent marker, created a pair of six-sided dice, and used coloured wooden figurines as currency (power points).I used different coloured markers to differentiate between robot parts, and energy types (renewable and non-renewable).

I chose to use six-sided dice so that there was a reasonable amount of outcomes that could be generated, as opposed to a double-sided coin which only allows two outcomes to exist. I did not choose a pair of nine-sided dice because this would lead to too many outcomes and make the game too complicated. I chose to use playing cards to represent the different types of energy generators and robot parts within the game as they allow for more information than just an identifying description (broad identification). This also allowed the cost of each card and their possible activation numbers to be easily recognised…